Making learning (and teaching) vocabulary fun! British Council ELT Conference 22 & 23 March & 23 March 2011

Staging Identify the stages, aims and procedures of this session StageAimProcedureReceptive/ productive

Why receptive and then productive? The receptive skills are listening and reading, because learners do not need to produce language to do these, they receive and understand it. These skills are sometimes known as passive skills. They can be contrasted with the productive or active skills of speaking and writing.

Provide familiar context- set up classroom routine Provide varied support:audio, visual, physical Introduce words in groups: themes, situations, rhyming sets, colour sets Help children make connections Select and grade vocabulary items Recycle, recycle, recycle Children need variety in the types of words and in how they learn Teaching vocabulary General principles

Evaluating my own lessons- Some questions to ask yourself after a lesson Did I achieve my aims? If not, why? Was my lesson different from how I imagined it in any way? How and why? How did I move from one stage to another? Did I keep to my timing? If not, why? Were the students active and involved in the lesson? Why(not)? Were there any problems? Why? How can I solve them? What would I do differently next time? Why? What did I do better this time?

Useful websites Free British Council resourceshttp://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/ downloads (flashcards, resource sheets)and tools to personalise resourceshttp:// flashcardshttp:// teacher resources for all school topics (registration required) required(Freefor 10 days) Fun and Educational activitieshttp:// (some free downloads-requires subscription)